Sept. 6, 2006

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UC DAVIS FOOTBALL NOTES - GAME 2

No. 19 (I-AA) UC DAVIS (1-0)
at
No. 22/23 (I-A) TCU (1-0)

Saturday, September 9, 2006
4:00 p.m. (PDT) *Fort Worth, Texas
Amon G. Carter Stadium (44,006) * Natural Grass

OPENING KICKOFF
* The Aggies "See America Tour" of five straight road games covering all four timezones and nearly 11,000 miles to start 2006 continues this weekend with its second stop - an encounter at No. 21 (ESPN/USA Today)/22 (AP) TCU. * The Horned Frogs are coached by GARY PATTERSON, a linebacker coach in 1986 under former Aggie mentor JIM SOCHOR. * UC Davis plays an NCAA Division I-A team for the second straight season and third time during the era of head coach Bob Biggs... The Aggies lost at Idaho, 44-14, in 1997 before shocking Stanford, 20-17, last season. * Beginning in 1978, the year the NCAA first designated I-A and I-AA to differentiate Div. I football, UC Davis has played just three I-A programs (Pacific, Idaho, Stanford)... The Aggies were 3-1 against Pacific from 1978-1995... The Tigers dropped football after the 1995 season. * TCU marks the first-ever ranked I-A opponent for UC Davis football... The Horned Frogs have an 11-game winning streak, the second-longest in I-A football. * UC Davis is looking for its first 2-0 start since 2004 and its seventh all-time under Coach Biggs. * The Aggies begin a stretch where they play four consecutive ranked teams (#21/22 TCU, #13 Montana State, #8 Youngstown State; #5 Cal Poly). * The Aggies will likely play in front of its largest crowd ever... The program record is 31,250 at Stanford last year; an estimated 8,000 of them UC Davis fans... The previous record was 20,993 at Sacramento State in 1999. * UC Davis will play a game in the state of Texas for the sixth time in the past five seasons and is 2-3 in the five games played... The Aggies have played at least one game in the Lone Star State every year since 2001, except for 2004. * Similarily, UC Davis has played a team from Texas every year since 2001, and every season since 1996 except 2000... The opponents include Texas A&M Kingsville, Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, Texas State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Angelo State and Stephen F. Austin. * Biggs is 10-5 against teams from Texas, headlined by a 4-2 record against Texas A&M-Kingsville. * DE Mike Ng was named the Great West Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week after picking up three sacks (17 yards in losses including one that resulted in a safety), five total tackles (four solo), recovering a fumble and helping anchor a defense that allowed just 32 rushing yards to Northern Colorado. * UC Davis held an opponent to less than 100 rushing yards for the eighth time in the past 12 games, and to less than 35 for the fourth time during that span. * 27 of the Aggies' 38 points came off of turnovers (2 interceptions, 2 fumbles). * UC Davis' scoring was its highest total since a 54-2 win at Western Oregon on Oct. 9, 2004... The Aggies highest total of 2005 came in a 37-7 win at Sacramento State. * The Aggies enter the 2006 season with 36 consecutive winning seasons, a run that started under Sochor in 1970. * They also own the 19th-best record in college football (231-70-5) since 1978. * UC Davis enters this week having scored in 179 straight games and having gained at least 200 yards of total offense in the past 400 games. * QB Jon Grant earned a preseason mention on the 16-player "watch list" for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the top player in Division I-AA.

WHAT'S IN A NAME
* With the transition to Division I comes more attention from national media and, as a result, more media outlets referring to UC Davis in a number of different manners.Simply, the university is either "UC Davis" or "University of California, Davis". * Incorrect references we have seen in media outlets: California-Davis, Cal-Davis, U.C. Davis, Cal St. Davis, Davis State and U.C.-Davis... A new one spotted last season was U-C Davis... The Aggies thank you for helping them make a new name for themselves on the field only.

ALL-TIME SERIES
* UC Davis and TCU are meeting for the first time.

HEAD COACHES
* Bob Biggs (UC Davis '73) is in his 14th season at the helm of the Aggies and his 29th with the program overall. * He owns a 109-43-1 (.716) overall record and is 51-27 (.654) on the road, 32-15-1 (.670) in games played in September and entered the year 33-14 (.702) against opponents on the 2006 schedule. * Gary PATTERSON (Kansas St. '83) is 44-18 and in his fifth season at TCU... His career record is the same. * Besides UC Davis, Patterson's coaching stops in California also include Cal Lutheran (1987) and Sonoma State (1989-91). * He is already fourth on the program's all-time wins list and just three behind Francis Schmidt (1929-33) for the No. 3 spot.

BRIEF TCU SCOUTING REPORT
* The Horned Frogs have won 11 straight games, the second-longest active streak in I-A (behind Texas). * TCU returns 21 starters from last year's team that finished 11-1 and won the EV1.Net Bowl... 51 letterwinners return overall. * Offensively, QB JEFF BALLARD threw for 1,801 yards and 13 TD's last season, completing 59.9 percent of his 232 attempts. * LT HERB TAYLOR has made 37 straight starts and is a preseason All-America and Lombardi Trophy candidate. * TCU's backfield of LONTA HOBBS, ROBERT MERRILL and AARON BROWN was rated in the preseason the fourth-best by The Sporting News... Brown was the only one of the trio to see action in TCU's 17-7 win at Baylor on Sunday, gaining 49 yards on 15 carries. * The Horned Frogs led the Mountain West Conference in scoring last season (33.2 ppg.). * Defensively, TCU is also strong throughout, returning seven starters, including LE CHASE ORTIZ (9 sacks) and RE TOMMY BLAKE (7 sacks), both on the watch list for the Lombardi Trophy. * The Horned Frogs led the MWC in rushing defense last season at 107.9 ypg and were first in overall defense at 329.1 ypg. * K CHRIS MANFREDINI was 13-of-13 in field goals last year, earning All-MWC honors.

NOTES FROM NORTHERN COLORADO
* UC Davis rushed for 142 yards, it's second-highest total since the beginning of last season... It had 182 in last year's finale, also against Northern Colorado. * RB Marcus Nolan's 65 yards were the most of his brief three-game Aggie career... (he missed nine games last season with injury). * RB Alex Garfio's 59 rushing yards were the second-most of his two-year career while his five catches for 71 yards were career-bests... His previous bests were two receptions (four times) and 13 yards. * P Gabe Ellis, who had a 36.4 avg. in 2005, averaged 43.8 on four kicks and put a pair inside the Bears' 20, including a 44-yarder that hit at the 1 and immediately bounced out of bounds. * The Aggies were 8 of 15 (.533) on third down, their best showing since going 13 of 20 (.650) against North Dakota State in the seventh game of 2005. * UC Davis (30:36) has had the ball more than its opponent for the last six games. * The Aggies went 4-of-4 in the red-zone while keeping the Bears offense from taking a snap inside the red-zone; the first time the latter has happened in the past 24 games (Saint Mary's 2003). * CB Jeremy Scott's 38-yard fumble return for a touchdown was UC Davis' first since DE Jake Mossawir recovered a fumble in the end zone at Western Oregon on Oct. 9, 2004. * LB David Heckman's 39-yard TD interception return was the Aggies' first since LB NOLAN DE GRAAF's 50-yarder at Eastern Washington on November 19, 2005. * QB Jon Grant's 6-yard TD run was the 12th of his career. * UC Davis' 28 points in the second half are the team's most in a half since 31 in the first half at Western Oregon in 2004. * The Aggies had four sacks, giving them 11 in their last two games (both against Northern Colorado).

AGGIES SEEING AMERICA TO START '06
* UC Davis is starting a season with five straight games for the first time ever... (The schedule was set up with home games later in the slate in the hopes UC Davis would be able to play in its new stadium. Due to construction delays, that will not happen this year). * The Aggies will travel 10,968 roundtrip miles during their first five games: Northern Colorado (1,832); TCU (2,850); Montana State (1,472); Youngstown State (4,346) and Cal Poly (468). * Mix in a 2,698-mile roundtrip to South Dakota State in October and the Aggies will have covered 13,666 miles for 2006. * The 2006 schedule also has UC Davis playing road games in each of the Pacific (Cal Poly), Mountain (MSU, UNC), Central (TCU, SDSU) and Eastern timezones (YSU).

36-YEAR WINNING STREAK
* The Aggies enter the season with 36 consecutive winning seasons, the longest active streak of any non-Division III school in the country. * UC Davis has not had a losing record since a 3-7 mark in 1969. * The streak has been in jeopardy heading into the final game of the season five times, but last year marked the first time the Aggies entered the season-finale with a .500 record and needed a victory to secure the winning record. * Former coach JIM SOCHOR (1970-88) started the streak, it was continued by BOB FOSTER (1989-92) and has been extended by Bob Biggs (1993-present). * UC Davis is 295-95-7 (.752) during the streak.

OTHER STREAKS OF NOTE
* The Aggies' 36 straight winning seasons are synonymous with its football program, however, two other streaks are also intact entering 2006. * UC Davis has scored in 179 consecutive games... The last shutout was a 19-0 defeat to Cal Poly in 1990. * The Aggies have not had less than 200 yards in total offense since a 30-12 loss to Nevada in 1969, a span that now stands at 400 games... UC Davis had 130 in that game.

STRONG CONFERENCE HISTORY
* The Aggies' co-championship in the Great West Football Conference last season was their first league title since 1993... UC Davis was not affliliated from 1994-2003. * UC Davis has won at least a share of a championship during 23 of its last 25 years of conference affiliation... The other two times it was second. * Included in that run is a 20-year streak from 1971-1990. * Conference affiliation (1971-81, Far Western Conference; 1982-92, Northern California Athletic Conference; American West Conference, 1993; 2004-present, GWFC).

ALL-CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE RETURNS
* UC Davis welcomes back 10 players who earned recognition on the All-Great West Football Conference teams last year, including six on the first team, three on the second and one honorable mention. * Grant and Kays were named to the first team on offense with Grant also earning Co-Offensive Player of the Year accolades (with James Noble of Cal Poly). * DE James Amos, DT John Faletoese, DE Mike Ng and FS Jonathan Barsi were named to the first-team defense. * OT Elliot Vallejo and CB Nevan Bergan were voted to the second-team along with PK Emmanuel Benjamin. * CB Adam Cook was selected honorable mention.

RUSHING DEFENSE IN '05 AMONG THE BEST
* UC Davis allowed just 87.5 rushing ypg. last season, a mark that would've ranked it No. 2 in I-AA had the Aggies been eligible to be officially ranked. * The Aggies held seven of 11 opponents below 100 yards rushing, including ranked teams No. 16 North Dakota State (3 yards), No. 10 Cal Poly (50) and No. 7 New Hampshire (81), as well as Northern Colorado (31), Portland State (33), Stanford (74) and Sacramento State (99). * The 87.5 avg is the second-lowest in school history behind 1983 (68.2). * UC Davis allowed just seven rushing touchdowns, including just one during a six-game stretch in midseason.

HECK, THE OVERALL "D" WAS GREAT TOO
* Sure, the rushing defense was outstanding, but so was the defense overall... Consider these I-AA "unofficial, official" defensive rankings: Total defense (8th, 282,6), passing efficiency (4th, 96.03); 3rd-down conversion (2nd, .276); scoring (16.7) and sacks avg. (T10th, 2.91).

PRESEASON HONORS PARADE
* WR Tony Kays earned a pair of preseason second-team All-America honors by The Sports Network, Don Hansen's Football Gazette and by I-AA.org. * QB Jon Grant was named a preseason second-team All-America by I-AA.org and a third-team by Don Hansen's Football Gazette. * CB Nevan Bergan was named a preseason second-team All-America by Don Hansen's Football Gazette. * Grant was named to the 16-player "watch list" for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top player in Div. I-AA. * Four Aggies received mention by Matt Dougherty, Executive Director of I-AA Football for The Sports Network, as being among the top returning players at their positions... Those players are Kays (No. 3, wide receivers), Grant (No. 4, quarterbacks), Bergan (No. 8; cornerbacks) and John Faletoese (No. 9, defensive tackles).

KAYS IS MASTER OF THE CATCH
* WR Tony Kays set receiving standards in 2005 that will be remembered in Aggie lore for a long time * His 93 total catches broke the previous school record of 75 by Michael Oliva (2001) for an overall season and 55 for a regular season by Charley Enos (2000). * The 93 were also most among Div. I-AA receivers. * His 1,213 yards are most for a regular season at UC Davis. * Kays tied the school record for single-game catches with 12 in the opener against New Hampshire and then broke it with 15 a week later against Portland State. * He had six games with at least 115 receiving yards, including 212 (on 13 receptions) versus Cal Poly. * He was named All-American by Associated Press (2nd), The Sports Network (3rd) and Don Hansen's Football Gazette (2nd). * Kays injured his ankle early in the opener at Northern Colorado and is being further evaluated this week. * He left the game without a catch, ending a streak of 19 straight games with at least one grab... Kays only has gone catchless just four times in 32 career games

OPPONENTS VICTIMS OF GRANTS' DOOM
* QB Jon Grant is on track to become the Aggies' first three-year starter since J.T. O'SULLIVAN (1999-2001) and only the third - along with former New York Jets QB KEN O'BRIEN (1980-82) - in the past 25 years. * Grant had four 300-yard passing games last season, including 373 at Stephen F. Austin... He had 307 a week earlier against Cal Poly. * He has six career 300-yard efforts with a career-best 393 at Cal Poly in '04... Grant has 700 yds vs. Poly in '05 & '06. * Grant also rushed for a team-high six touchdowns in 2005, adding one more in the 2006 opener. * His 23.55 completions/game last year would've ranked No. 8 nationally, his passing yards (261.2) would've been 14th and his total offense (273.3) 16th. * He is a two-time first-team All-GWFC quarterback enters the season No. 9 on the career passing yards chart at UC Davis with 5,458.

BERGAN BACK IN THE BACKFIELD
* CB Nevan Bergan had a breakout year in 2005 after entering the year with just one career interception. * He had seven picks last year, including two each against New Hampshire and North Dakota State, which tied him for second-most in a single season at UC Davis. * His average of 0.64 int/game was third-best among I-AA players. * Bergan led the GWFC in interceptions and had 17 passes defended (interceptions & breakups combined), which put him fifth nationally.

UC DAVIS RETURNS OFFENSIVE LINE INTACT
* Five players who started last season return for the Aggies in 2006 as the team looks to improve its rushing average of 99.5 ypg. * LT Kyle Skierski and RT Elliot Vallejo anchor the line from the outside, each having started the past 22 games.. Skierski split time between guard and tackle, playing the last five at the latter. * C Timothy Keane enters the season having started all of last season. * RG Jonathan Compas started the first six games of last season before being sidelined by injury while LG MARIO GONZALES started the last five games of the year. * Gonzales missed last week due to injury but is the scheduled starter for this weekend's game at TCU.

NELSON TO REDSHIRT IN 2006; NOLAN IS BACK
* RB Nelson Doris, who led the Aggies in rushing last year with 328 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in the upset of Stanford, will redshirt this season while continuing to recover from a foot injury. * RB Marcus Nolan, who was sidelined by injury after the first two games, is back and ready to go this season and enters the year second on the depth chart. * Nolan led the team with 65 yards rushing in the season opener at Northern Colorado.

CAREER STAT UPDATES
* Aggies making their way up the career charts: * QB Jon Grant is No. 9 in passing yardage (5,682), passing current Boise State head coach CHRIS PETERSEN (5,555) last weekend. * Grant is 7th in total offense (5,884 yards) and is just 46 behind MARK GRIEB (5,930) for sixth... Grant is also No. 6 in attempts (791) and just 280 tries from becoming No. 1 and is No. 6 in completions (464), 213 from assuming that top spot. * WR Tony Kays has 141 career catches and is No. 6... He needs 54 to break CHARLEY ENOS' (1998-2001) mark of 194. * Kays is No. 9 1,873 career yards and would finish No. 3 if he can duplicate his 1,213 yards from 2005. * CB Nevan Bergan is tied for No. 9 with 8 career interceptions... ADAM WILLIAMS (1972-73, '75) is No. 1 with 15 career picks. * PK Emmanuel Benjamin is for No. 8 with 16 career field goals and 28 field goal attempts and is No. 7 with 57 made PAT's, just one behind former kicker ROLF BENIRSCHKE (1974-76).

AGGIES ELECT TEAM CAPTAINS
* UC Davis players vote for their team captains at the conclusion of the previous season. * The 2006 captains are QB Jon Grant, WR Tony Kays, DE James Amos and CB Nevan Bergan. * Kays is a captain for the second straight year.

AGGIES STAFF ARE NO STRANGERS
* A key to any successful football program is a continuity in the coaching staff... UC Davis has that one nailed. * Five members of the staff enter the season with a combined 128 "coaching years" after having been together as a quintet the past 17 years. * Bob Biggs (28 years total, 13 as head coach); Assistant head coach Fred Arp (39 years); defensive coordinator LOU BRONZAN (22 years); offensive coordinator Mike Moroski (18 years) and running backs/special teams coach Greg Chapla (17 years). * For good measure, they're all graduates of UC Davis. * Arp coached his 400th career game last season.

NEW STADIUM ON THE WAY
* UC Davis will play its final season this year at venerable Toomey Field - its home since 1949 -before moving into new digs across campus at its new stadium currently being constructed. * The 10,000-12,000-seat stadium sits below grade and is expected to be ready for occupancy in early 2007... The UC Davis women's lacrosse team will be the first Aggie team to compete in the stadium. * The stadium is being constructed on a 27-acre area known as "The Triangle" on the west side of campus... It was approved by students as part of the Facilities and Campus Enhancement Initiative (FACE) in 1999. * The first phase of construction also includes lockerrooms, a press box, a scoreboard with video display board, and another amenities. * The stadium has yet to be named but as the bumper stickers say, "Ask me how!"

AGGIES IN THE PROS
* There are three former UC Davis players were on preseason NFL training camp rosters, with two of them earning spots this past weekend on NFL rosters. * OT COREY LEKKERKERKER (2003-04) is on the curent roster with the San Diego Chargers. * TE Daniel Fells (2002-05) is with the Atlanta Falcons... He and Lekkerkerker were free agent signees out of UC Davis a year apart. * QB J.T. O'SULLIVAN (1998-2001), the all-time passing leader at UC Davis, played with the Minnesota Vikings during the preseason but was waived... O'Sullivan was signed to the New England Patriots practice squad earlier this week... He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round in 2002. * Corey's brother, Brad, retired this summer from the Oakland Raiders after spending time on their practice squad. * Former QB's KHARI JONES (1991-93) and MARK GRIEB (1994-96) have been standouts in the Canadian Football League and Arena Football League, respectively, and are former league MVP's.

MOVE TO DIVISION I ALMOST COMPLETE
* The 2006-07 academic year marks the final year of a four-year reclassification to NCAA Division I status for UC Davis. * The Aggies, six-time winners of the Directors' Cup as the most successful Division II program, will become official members of the Big West Conference beginning next season. * The Aggies, however, are in their third year of playing Division I schedules in all sports and are playing a full complement of Big West Conference schedules but - with the exception of swimming and diving - are ineligible to win any BWC titles, count in any standings and statistics, nor win any conference awards. * UC Davis announced its intention of moving to the Big West Conference and Division I in 2003.

RADIO
* KHTK (1140 AM), the 50,000-watt home of the Sacramento Kings, will once again broadcast all UC Davis games. * STEVE BUZZARD (play-by-play), DOUG KELLY (analyst) and SCOTT MARSH (sidelines, studio) provide the call each week. * KDVS (90.3 FM), the UC Davis student station, also carries all of the action... Sports Director ANDREW TOMSKY will handle the duties. * It was announced earlier that the UC Davis-Cal Poly game on Oct. 7 will be broadcast nationally by the Sports Byline Radio Network, and also available worldwide on Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 122.